John McEnroe insists Andy Murray was hurt by late finish

John McEnroe feels that if it wasn’t for the late finish to his match against Thanasi Kokkinakis, Andy Murray would still be in the Australian Open.
McEnroe watched a sluggish Murray go down to Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut on Saturday.
The former World No 1 believes that if Murray’s match with Kokkinakis had been suspended as concluded the next day that the Scot might have had enough in the tank to reach the last 16.
“The sad part is that obviously the finish time of the previous match affected his performance in the third round and the door was open for him to make a run,” McEnroe told Eurosport.
“It seems like he’s fit enough and the body is holding up well enough that, with a little bit of luck, he could have gone a lot further.
“Bautista Agut is a seasoned pro, he’s a very good player. But obviously if the two of them play at their top level, Murray’s going to win.”
McEnroe admits that the flip side of the coin is that Murray would also be in better shape if he had put Kokkinakis away quickly.
“It’s got to be extremely hard mentally for him to put in that much effort and sort of get thrown off because he played at four in the morning.
“Having said that, if he had beat Kokkinakis in straight sets, we wouldn’t be discussing this and I believe the outcome of his match with Bautista Agut would have been different.
“That’s the way tennis works. It’s harsh when you’re out there on your own. So he’s got to figure out a way to get himself in matches where he can finish guys off quicker.
“Both matches took its toll and that’s a big ask for anyone at any age to be able to rebound consistently and go all the way or deep into a tournament.
“I think he certainly has the respect of everyone that’s around the sport, the players. But he’s got to figure out a way to tighten things up.”
John McEnroe believes that what Murray really wants in the remaining days of his career is not consistency on tour but rather one last deep run at a Grand Slam.
“At this point in his career, that’s what it’s about,” he said. “It’s not about doing well in other events. He wants to prove that he can go deep.
“This is a guy who’s been in the finals of Grand Slams 11 times and numerous times gone deep in majors.”
READ MORE: Emotional Andy Murray reveals extent of his pain after Australian Open exit
Latest
-
Davis Cup
Dan Evans owns ‘hardest loss to take’ in Davis Cup tie against Colombia
Britain were handed the nightmare trip after failing to qualify for the quarter-finals last year.
-
News
Casper Ruud out to emulate Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem
Casper Ruud believes he can win on any surface.
-
Wimbledon
Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina begs Wimbledon to maintain ban on Russian and Belarusian players
Elina Svitolina has begged Wimbledon to maintain the ban.
-
Australian Open
Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open win was a ratings flop for American TV
ESPN have released their viewing figures for the Australian Open final and they suggest just 439,000 viewers watched in America.
-
ATP Tour
Felix Auger-Aliassime backed to win Wimbledon in 2023
Felix Auger-Aliassime has been backed to make his Grand Slam breakthrough in 2023.
-
News
Serena Williams opens up on Will Smith’s Oscar slap
Serena Williams says that we are all human and make mistakes in the heat of the moment.
-
Tennis News
Nick Kyrgios escapes conviction despite pleading guilty to assaulting ex-girlfriend
Nick Kyrgios saw the common assault charge against him dismissed.
-
Davis Cup
Great Britain braced for ‘complicated’ Davis Cup qualifier in Colombia
Matches will be played at an altitude of 2,600 metres and with pressureless balls.
-
WTA Tour
Heather Watson ends her quarter-final drought with win in Thailand – ‘It was just survival of the fittest’
Heather Watson will now face Chinese seventh seed Xinyu Wang.
-
Tennis News
Toni Nadal shares thoughts on fans’ hostility toward Novak Djokovic as well as Rafael Nadal’s future
Toni Nadal on why Novak Djokovic has so many detractors.